We are happy to send our newsletter to anyone who wants it. We also realize that some people who once wanted our newsletter might later decide that they no longer want to receive it. If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, please notify us at 360-357-7224 or InterfaithWorks@comcast.net
(thank you to the Olympia FOR newsletter for modeling this wording!)
Please click on the link above -- the community calendar and bulletin board has its own web page on our site so we can update it between newsletters.
NEXT NEWSLETTER — MAY
The deadline for the next newsletter is 12 noon on Tuesday, May 13. If you have ideas for articles, announcements, or other newsletter items, let us know or just email them to us at InterfaithWorks@comcast.net. Thank you!
Also, please let us know if you, someone else, a faith community or another organization would like to receive a copy of our monthly newsletter, either by U.S. mail or by email.
We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future… To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. Preamble – Earth Charter
I love this picture of earth taken from space. It represents one of our greatest technological achievements – the step out into space – but really this picture has a far deeper significance, because for the first time ever, we have seen ourselves and the planet from the outside, and the view has changed everything.
In a real sense this image of Earth has become a religious icon for me – a sacred symbol of that which is holy and precious – because it elicits such profound feelings of awe and wonder, feelings of oneness and interconnectedness, feelings of being a part of something so much greater. This picture also speaks eloquently of the ineffable beauty of Earth and of its increasing vulnerability and fragility, and brings home to me, in a way nothing else can, that we are One Planetary Community, One Sacred Community, sailing through space on Planet Earth together.
The theme for Earth Day this year is Global Warming and Global Climate Change.
For people of faith, really, for all of us, the care of God’s Creation and the protection of Earth and the life-support systems on Planet Earth from the devastating effects of Global Warming are not just environmental issues. Fundamentally, they are moral and ethical issues and the responsibility of everyone.
Please visit the Earth Stewardship page on the IW website for a list of resources we can use to educate ourselves and our faith communities about this vitally important issue.
ENVIRONMENTAL WORK IS JUSTICE WORK
by Carol McKinley
Earth Day [April 22] is a time of celebration, a day on which we acknowledge the wonder of this planet on which we live and the amazing abundance of life forms that share it with us. It is a time in which we are reminded to walk more gently on the earth, to be better stewards of this biosphere and the blue-green hills of earth. Earth Day also challenges faith communities to look more closely at how humanity’s profligate use of earth’s resources – water, fossil fuels, the soil – offends religious precepts fundamental to most faiths: justice, equity, and compassion.
As the climate changes, the global food supply, people’s homes, and health, will be affected. All climate change experts agree that the poorest of the poor in the world, including the poorest in prosperous societies, will suffer the most, for the poor are least able to adapt to climate change.
And the changes can be disastrous. According to a recent CBS news report, an increase of just two degrees Fahrenheit could mean significant changes in the lives of millions. Africa by 2020 is looking at an additional 75 to 250 million people going thirsty because of climate change; deadly diseases primarily associated with floods and droughts are expected to rise in Asia; crop failures due to ongoing drought are already occurring in Australia, a major grain producer.
In the face of changes that will affect the lives of millions of the poor, powerless, and landless, how might we as justice-seeking people respond to global warming and the environmental crisis?
First, we can recognize that global warming is more than an environmental and scientific crisis; it is one of the greatest spiritual and moral crises facing humanity today.
We can recognize our responsibility to share equitably in the earth’s resources, and work to reduce the United States’ production of greenhouse gasses. We can acknowledge that emitting more than 25% of the world’s greenhouse gasses while being only 4% of the world’s population is an injustice.
We can respond to the cry of the earth and the cries of the poor by calling for equitable apportionment of earth’s abundant resources, and reducing our own consumption.
Finally, we can muster our creativity, courage, and devotion to heal this planet and its peoples, calling our congregations, communities, and leaders to honor values of justice and compassion.
Become a Crop Walker, or contribute to a Walker. If you want to get involved but don’t know how, phone Kathy at 357-7224, or Wayne and Carol at 352-9703. Or donate online by going to www.cropwalk.org, click the little box that says “Register Today” and then follow the links to Thurston County Crop Walk.
Funds raised will provide food and clean water to hungry people locally, nationally and around the globe. In 2007 our Walk raised $50,331 for hunger relief! To learn more about Thurston County Crop Walk, visit our website at www.interfaith-works.org/cropwalk.html
Below: Lynn Magnuson (Pacific NW Regional Director of Crop Walk) and Governor Christine Gregoire at the 2007 Thurston County Crop Walk
HOT MEALS WANTED
If you, or your organization would like to provide a hot meal on a regular basis (such as once a week) during Camp Quixote’s stay at the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation (2200 East End St, West Olympia), please contact Selena Kilmoyer at 360-951-0326 or k.selenaATgmail.com [replace AT with @].
INTERFAITH CAMP EFFECTS POSITIVE CHANGE
“I really love it,” writes the parent of a camper. “[My daughter] is writing an essay right now on Muslims. She is defending them against being called terrorists since kids in her class were saying that they think they all are. This is directly from her participation in the interfaith youth camp.”
Puget Sound Interfaith Youth Camp is changing hearts and lives as campers learn to understand, respect and appreciate people from many different faith traditions. They are planting seeds of peace in their neighborhoods and schools.
Please help spread the news to your congregation’s religious education department that we are now accepting applications (both camper and staff) for the 2008 Puget Sound Interfaith Youth Camp. The camp is open to 7-9th graders from all religions and faith traditions, and the fee is only $100 per camper; scholarships available.
Applications will be accepted until camp is filled, but there is only room for 60 campers, and it’s sure to fill up fast. If you know of young teens who might like to go, please give this information to them and/or their parents. The dates this year are August 24-29 (Sunday-Friday). Applications are available right now at www.soundinterfaithcamp.org or by calling 360-357-7224.
Questions? Call Kathy at 360-357-7224 or Sallie at 253-383-3056 x 105.
Tuesday March 25th, IW Board Member Miles and colleagues at The Washington Professional Counselors Association enjoyed success in getting House Bill 2674 signed into law, setting legal standards and status for Independent Counselors as a credentialed profession and allowing well over a thousand currently practicing counselors to remain in business.
This is particularly important to a lot of IW supporters because it also includes exemptions for spiritual and religious counselors. Many spiritual counselors could have been at risk; they were not necessarily covered as religious counselors because they may lack ordination credentials or may not belong to a "traditional" church. The way this new bill was written it includes spiritual counselors with ministers and priests as exempt "religious" counselors.
Left: Kate, Miles, and Miriam (Washington Professional Counselors Association work group members) with Governor Christine Gregoire at the signing of House Bill 2674
WANT TO VOLUNTEER AT ST. PETER HOSPITAL?
If you are interested in learning more about becoming a Hospitality Volunteer for the Spiritual Care Department at Providence St. Peter Hospital, you are invited to an informational meeting on May 6, 2008, from 10-11 a.m. in the Executive Conference Room at the hospital. Directions to the classroom can be obtained from the Information Desk in the hospital lobby. For those accepted into the program, classes will meet one morning a week for 8 weeks for a total of 24 hours of training. If you wish to attend the information session, please contact Beverly Hartz at 360-493-7238.
In honor of our life givers and nurturers, create a sacred image of the Great Mother using wax, silk and dyes. Art experience not needed. Julia will lead an exercise to help access your own sacred images of the goddess.
Seek and You Will Find...Another way to be catholic All are welcome to experience catholic worship in a new, inclusive way, based on the Beatitudes of Christ. Lacey's Ecumenical Catholic Community invites everyone to participate in Eucharistic lay-led liturgies on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of every month, 11 a.m., at the Lacey Women's Club House (829 Lacey St. Turn rt. onto Lacey St. from the Lacey Blvd./Pacific Ave. roundabout.)
